The Final Stretch (Hair Challenge Update) & Giveaway

*Giveaway now closed*

Bet you thought I'd forgotten, didn't you?  Nope, just held off a couple days to include the giveaway with my next to last hair challenge update...Not sure what I'm talking about?  Catch up on my 6-week Curly Hair Challenge.

As I enter the last week of my 6-week curly hair challenge, my mind is shifting to the reintroduction of my hair and shampoo.  If the idea is to eliminate shampoos containing harsh sulfates and silicones, here is the list of ingredients to avoid (Be warned, it's going to look like a scary chemistry exam):

Sulfates (in shampoos)

 Alkylbenzene Sulfonate, Ammonium laureth or lauryl sulfate, Ammonium or Sodium Xlenesulfonate Sodium, C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate, Sodium cocoyl sarcosinate, Sodium laureth, myreth or lauryl sulfate,  Sodium lauryl sulfoacetate, TEA dodecylbenaensulfonate,  Ethyl PEG 15 cocamine sulfate, Dioctyl  sodium sulfosuccinate

Silicones (in conditioners)

     Cetearyl methicone, Cetyl Dimethicone, Cyclomethicone,  Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone, Dimethiconol, Stearyl Dimethicone, Amodimethicone (in combination with Trideceth-12 & Cetrimonium Chloride), Trimethylsilylamodimethicone

I know, that list looks completely overwhelming.  And when you start looking at the ingredients list on your shampoo bottle, it'll set your mind spinning.  But it's worth it!  Let me give you a much shorter list of ingredients that are safe (or at least safer) to use on your curly hair...

Shampoos

Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Cocobetaine, Cocoamphoacetate, Cocamphodipropionate, Disodium cocoamphodiacetate, cocoamphodipropionate, Lauroamphoacetate, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate

Conditioners

Dimethicone Copolyol, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Hydroxypropyl Polysiloxane, Lauryl Methicone copolyol

So what am I going to use next week when I go back to shampoo?  Well, I'm definitely not going back to my old stand-by, VO5.  It's got nearly every no-no ingredient on the list.  I've had good luck with Biolage
in the past, but their shampoos also are high in sulfates.  I read great reviews of a brand called Jason and their shampoos follow the good ingredient guidelines fairly closely, but my research has found their conditioners to stray completely in the opposite direction.

For now I've settled on Aubrey Organics Balancing Shampoo  It doesn't have a flashy label and no flowery fragrance, but there are no chemical name in the ingredients list and that impresses me.  Other natural hair-cleaning lines with good ingredients are: Desert Essences,  Kinky Curly, and SheaMoisture. 

My 6-week hair challenge may be nearly over, but I also feel like it's just the beginning of learning for me.  I'm committed to using healthier shampoos and healthier styling products as well.  Make sure you come back on Monday when I'll reveal our "after" photos and wrap up the hair challenge with our final thoughts!


Now, finally, today's giveaway:

Giveaway Items: 

Curly Hair Care Package: 

1 Bottle Aubrey Organics Shampoo, 
1 Bottle Aubrey Organics Conditioner, 

1Wide-Tooth Comb, 1 Microfiber Towel

Giveaway Information:

1 winner will receive entire package

 Contest will begin at 4:01 PM (MST) on Thursday, December 8, 2011

 and end at 10:00PM(MST) on Monday, December 12, 2011.

Giveaway open to U.S. residents only 

Entry Options:

~Mandatory Entry~

Browse my Curly Hair Challenge posts and leave a blog post comment here about something you've learned.

Curly Hair Challenge Posts

~Optional Extra Entries(Leave a comment for each extra entry)~

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In My Heart On Thursday

"By going and coming, a bird weaves it's nest."

-Ashanti proverb

Uniquely December: Take It In the Ear Day

Many years ago a cable movie channel let an intern play editor for a day.  Off the shelf came, "Liar, Liar" and off he went to work.  His goal for the day?  Change barely offensive dialogue into family-approved rhetoric.

The scene:  Retrieving his car from the impound lot, lawyer Fletcher Reede notices a new scratch on the side.  Irate, he begins taking it out on the lot boy.

The dialogue:
"You scratched my car!
"Oh, yeah, whatcha gonna do about it?"
"NOTHING! If I take you to small claims court, you probably wouldn't show up, and if you did and I won you'd just stiff me anyway.  So, I'm going to turn around and just take it in...the ear...


Feeling confident in his choice of insults, the intern quickly inserted ...the ear... into another movie or two (The Wayans brothers "Bulletproof" for one), punched the clock and called it a day.

Is there anyone my husband knows that has not heard this story?  I don't think so.  Is he overjoyed to have a day devoted to this most ridiculous of dialogue dubbing.  I am positive there isn't a person he runs into today that won't hear his over-excited re-telling of an intern's innocent attempt at real job for a day...

Uniquely December Giveaway #3 Season of Love

*Giveaway now closed*

Today's giveaway comes from me!

It's a vinyl decorated picture that I made for a gift a year ago and then never got around to sending (I made one for myself as well, and though it's definitely a decoration for the holidays, it's been hanging for over a year. If you've read today's Uniquely December entry, you're starting to see I have a huge procrastination problem).

Here's what you'll get:

Giveaway Item: 

1 11x17 "Season of Love" Picture in Gold Frame

Giveaway Information:

 Contest will begin at 12:01AM(MST) on Wednesday, December 7, 2011

 and end at 10:00PM(MST) on Sunday, December 11, 2011.

Giveaway open to U.S.  and Canada residents only 

Entry Options:

~Mandatory Entry~

Since I have nothing to sponsor here, we're going to have a little fun.

Find the "My Path" archive list in the right sidebar.  

Then choose your birthday month, find a post you like in that month,

 and comment on this giveaway post what caught your eye. 

~Optional Extra Entries(Leave a comment for each extra entry)~

Follow Wandering Still through Google Friend Connect

Subscribe to Wandering Still email updates

Follow Wandering Still on Facebook

Make sure to enter these other Uniquely December Giveaways...

$10 Something Store Surprise

What A Girl Wants Prize Pack

Uniquely December: Letter-Writing Day

A few weeks back we had a lesson at church focused on taking care of ourselves as women.  One of the challenges we were given was to go home and write a letter.  Not an email, or a text, or a facebook comment...a genuine later.  The promise was made that taking the time to sit down, form our thoughts, and then express them would bring peace in the midst of our harried every day lives.  And not just our lives, but also the lives of the people to whom we're writing.

Letters are "the keepers."  Don't we all have a box or a file somewhere holding treasured salutations?  Maybe tucked inside a birthday card or folded neatly inside a scented envelope?  We don't read them everyday, but when we come across them our hearts are immediately carried back to the emotions of the day we received it.  A hand-written letter guarantees to bring a smile to mind over and over again.

I had three people come immediately to mind after receiving my letter-writing challenge.  One a friend I've been out of contact with for years but who just reached a goal she'd set way back then.  One a sister-in-law I admire for the life she's lived and the choices she's made.  And one my grandmother.

In my lifetime my grandmother's letters have been a precious gift.  They don't come often.  The thought comes to mind to write her only about once a year, but I always know I'll hear receive a message in return.  Her tiny cramped scrawl is pretty hard to read, but the squinting and transcribing is always worth the work.  Especially because my grandma is of the generation that believes nothing that happened in her life is important enough for people to want to know.  The letters she sends with brief accounting of how she passes her days will add immense depth to the history I'll piece together and share with the generations of my family.

I'm ashamed to admit I've only written one of my three letters, and that envelope is still waiting on my kitchen counter to be mailed.  I'm grateful for the reminder today to put my pen to paper and send a short little ray of happiness to the people in my life.

Can I pass the challenge along to you? 

 Sit down and write a letter to someone you know.  

See if it doesn't make you both feel better!